1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an Internet broadcasting system for supporting broadcast services. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a user's preferred contents in an Internet broadcasting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the Internet Protocol (IP)-based convergence era, the convergence of communications and broadcasting, which is a new marketable next-generation business model, is attracting attention as a next-generation market-leading technology. In particular, IP Tele-Vision (IPTV) technology, a major hub of the communications-broadcasting convergence services, is a technology that can create various business models and services by not only providing a service bundle in which the existing TV, voice, and data technology are recombined or combined into one service, but also by supporting bidirectionality. Notably, the IPTV technology does not provide services specified in the existing limited terminal environment, but provides services regardless of service receivers including a fixed terminal (e.g. set-top box, Personal Computer (PC), TV, etc.), a mobile terminal (e.g. cellular phone, Personal Digital Assistance (PDA), etc.), and a network, thereby making it possible to not only provide and apply the same services in various environments, but also develop various types of services by taking account of various environments.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional IPTV-related whole domain and value chain.
Referring to FIG. 1, the IPTV-related whole domain includes a consumer domain 1 101, a network provider domain 1102, a platform provider domain 1103, an IPTV service provider domain 1104, and a contents provider domain 1105 in order to provide a user 1100 with IPTV.
The consumer domain 1101 is a domain for consuming IPTV services, and may be implemented by a network (e.g. home network) including a one or more terminals for reception and use of the services and many other terminals. Examples of the terminal may include not only a set-top box, but also a portable terminal supporting the wireless environment, such as a cellular phone and a PDA.
The network provider domain 1102 connects the user 1100 with platform or service providers, and serves to deliver various types of services and contents. A transmission system of the network provider domain 1102 may support various transmission technologies, such as wired/wireless transmission and broadcasting, and usually includes an access network and a core or backbone network.
The platform provider domain 1103 is a domain for providing services common to IPTV service providers, and provides the IPTV service providers with authentication, charging, etc.
The IPTV service provider domain 1104 is a domain for providing the consumer domain 1101 with IPTV services, and provides the IPTV services by receiving contents from contents providers and packaging them into services.
The content provider domain 1105 is a domain that owns contents or content property and the copyright thereon.
It is possible to provide various IPTV services, as well as content services and content on-demand services scheduled within the above-mentioned five domains, and four major roles for this service provision are gathered to form one value chain.
First, a content production unit 1109 is located in the content provider domain 1105, and serves to produce and edit contents. A content aggregation unit 1108 is located in the IPTV service provider domain 1104, and serves to receive contents from various content providers and constitute various services. A content delivery unit 1107 is located in the platform provider domain 1103 and the network provider domain 1102, and serves to deliver aggregated contents, provided from IPTV service providers, to the consumer domain 1101. Finally, a content reconstitution unit 1106 is located in the consumer domain 1101, and serves to convert provided contents into a format viewable by the user 1100 and provide the user 1101 with the converted content.
IPTV services are largely classified into two types, that is, a managed model and an unmanaged model (open Internet), according to whether they provide Quality of Service (QoS). The managed model is a type in which a service provider integrally manages the platform provider domain 1103, the network provider domain 1102, and the IPTV service provider domain 1104. The unmanaged model is a type in which a service provider may be separated from a network provider in such a manner that the service provider belonging to the IPTV service provider domain 1104 transmits to another network provider (the network provider domain 1102 and the platform provider domain 1103).
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional method of providing contents.
A service provider 1201 may be described separately for the managed model and the unmanaged model. In the case of the unmanaged model, the role of a network provider exists, but is not illustrated in FIG. 2 for the convenience of explanation. However, the role of the network provider will be mentioned in the following description.
A content provider 1200 generates contents and detailed information on the contents (hereinafter referred to as “content information”) in step 1204, and delivers the generated contents and content information to the service provider 1201 in step 1205.
On receiving the contents and content information, in step 1206, the service provider 1201 generates an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) through the delivered contents and content information. Herein, the EPG provides detailed information on services and contents provided by the service provider 1201, a method of purchasing them, a method for accessing them, etc.
In step 1207, the service provider 1201 delivers the EPG to a set-top box 1202. In step 1208, the set-top box 1202 receives the delivered EPG, processes the corresponding EPG, and provides a TV (Display) 1203 with processed information. The TV (Display) 1203 displays the EPG according to the provided processed information.
In step 1209, the user 1100 selects desired contents through the EPG displayed on the TV (Display) 1203. In step 1210, the user 1100 delivers a request message for reception of the selected contents to the service provider 1202 through the set-top box 1202.
In step 1212, the selected contents are delivered to the user 1100. With regard to this, the contents may be provided in various ways according to service policies. For example, contents stored in the service provider 1201 or contents received from the content provider 1200 may be delivered, and a transmission scheme and a content type may also be in various forms, such as streaming/downloading, real-time/non real time, etc. In step 1213, the contents received in this way are displayed to the user 1100 through the TV (Display).
As mentioned above, when it is possible for an Internet broadcasting system to support a large number of channels by using an Internet network, a user has difficulty in searching for a desired channel, and must spend time on channel tuning. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method to provide a user with his/her desired contents in a manner in which the user does not need to search for and tune channels to find desired contents.